Custom Baling

[CumminsLuke]

Not including the M4700 I sold, and my ZD21 lawnmower, I've got less than $45,000 tied up in all the stuff you see in my signature. And $30,000 of that is in the M7040 with cab and loader. Notice there are three balers in my signature. Every piece I have is in excellent shape and has never caused me any trouble, but I keep everything sheded and do preventive maintenence before problems show up. I bale about 100 acres of hay a year. I guess if you wanted to do a thousand acres maybe you'd need more, but I get by real good.

 

[blueriver]

Not including the M4700 I sold, and my ZD21 lawnmower, I've got less than $45,000 tied up in all the stuff you see in my signature. And $30,000 of that is in the M7040 with cab and loader. Notice there are three balers in my signature. Every piece I have is in excellent shape and has never caused me any trouble, but I keep everything sheded and do preventive maintenence before problems show up. I bale about 100 acres of hay a year. I guess if you wanted to do a thousand acres maybe you'd need more, but I get by real good.

Okay so am I being foolish ... I aready have a JD 7' sickle mower that I use to clean up with, should I be looking for a small baler to fit 43hp? I know I can find a rake for a few $ ... Should I be doing my 200 bales a year myself?

 

[Farmwithjunk]

yes you can buy all used equipment for that price.an if shes not in top shape break down on you in the field.i was looking at it from the starting with new equipment from scratch.but ive learned the hard way you dont buy some1 elses problems.for the last few years ive had custom balers bale the hay.an they charge $20 a bale.an they do break down in the field.but thats ok.

NEW equipment is NEW for about 10 minutes, then it's no different than a well cared for piece of used equipment. BTDT. Spending 5 to 10 times as much to end up with new won't eliminate the possibilities of a breakdown, just the possibility of turning a profit in a marginally profitable venture. Do it my way and you can have 2 or 3 of EVERYTHING at 1/5th the cost. Something breaks, park it and wheel out "plan B". Your way something breaks, wait for dealer to do warranty service. I like my way MUCH better. So does my bank account.

 

[zzvyb6]

I like the idea of taking on other people's junk (sorry FWJ). That's my competitive advantage. I learn how it works, how to fix it, and how to improve it. If I have a breakdown, I already have the tools in the field, the extra parts on hand and the knack to get it done. With new equipment, I can only compete with dealers.

A newer tractor with a few extra hydraulics outlets are all I would insist on. Diesel for safety (fire) reasons. You really ought to have a partner in this. A 2 person deal has some huge advantages from a safety, food, hookup, scheduling, attitude, and encouragement point of view. Having a female partner in this endeavor is the making of an incredable marriage or a standoff divorce. Show a client how reliable you are as a work in progress and you'll be able to command a premium price.

 

[bigbull338]

everyone has differant opions on how they do things an the way they buy equipment.i have nothing against used equipment.if a person wants to buy used thats great.theres good deals on equipment if you can find them.the square balers ive seen for sale are old an they want from $2000 to $7000.an if they break down can you do all of the repair work yourself.im not fighting with any1 here.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

everyone has differant opions on how they do things an the way they buy equipment.i have nothing against used equipment.if a person wants to buy used thats great.theres good deals on equipment if you can find them.the square balers ive seen for sale are old an they want from $2000 to $7000.an if they break down can you do all of the repair work yourself.im not fighting with any1 here.

Balers really are not that complicated, if something breaks you unbolt it and bolt on the new part. But new balers break down also so either way you will want a good toolkit with you.

I paid $7500 for my NH 575 and it was about 5 years old. So far the only thing that has actually broke were a few shear bolts on the flywheel. I had the belt on the pickup jump off when I found a chuck hole fairly hard. I also had to adjust one of the knives on the knotter once. But that is it in 3 years of owning that baler. The thrower is a different story as I have had to rebuild the upper apron. The one rail broke (opposite the flywheel) last year so I tore things down and replaced it. Then this year the flywheel loosened up and ruined the drive drums shaft so I had to replace the drum and bearings. I had my friends at the machine shop fix the flywheel and cut a new keyway. But when the thrower breaks all you do is put someone on the wagon and hand stack like you would a flat rack.

The only down time I have is with help unloading wagons. The kids get tired and as one or two quit on you then you are stranded while the last couple work their butts off (they get rewarded though). I offer a stacking service to my customers and depending on how far away they are, how much hay they are buying and how much work is involved is how I decide what to charge. Generally, I charge a quarter a bale to stack in their barns and I make money at this rate as I have two dependable kids and they can usually keep the other helpers in line. I pay them $10 an hour and I shuttle wagons while my father runs my baler for me. I figure even if I only make 5-10 cents a bale (you make less money per bale after 1000 bales as the kids slow down), it is better then paying them to put it in my barn because my customers can't get help to unload when I am baling.

Personally, I think a young guy could make a lot of money offering a stacking service if he had one or two dependable helpers. You can just about name your price with most of these horse farms as they can't find people to stack hay anymore.

 

[chh]

NEW equipment is NEW for about 10 minutes, then it's no different than a well cared for piece of used equipment. BTDT. Spending 5 to 10 times as much to end up with new won't eliminate the possibilities of a breakdown, just the possibility of turning a profit in a marginally profitable venture. Do it my way and you can have 2 or 3 of EVERYTHING at 1/5th the cost. Something breaks, park it and wheel out "plan B". Your way something breaks, wait for dealer to do warranty service. I like my way MUCH better. So does my bank account.

I've tried it both ways. I'll take newer stuff for the amount of property I have to cover. I prefer working equipment to working on it. Which of course it all needs worked on before you think it will. I've never owned a square baler. Watched them run many a day when I was a kid and learned to drive in the hayfield helping the haulers. Getting help to handle squares around here is very difficult. I have quite a bit of horse quality bermuda that I've never tried to work with just for that reason. The biggest concern I have with the newer round balers I have looked at is the electronics on them. If they sit outside all year is it rough on the sensors and the belts too.
I avoided the new tractors ,when I was shopping for one, with the totally electronic cabs and the electric/hydraulic shift transmissions.

All this said and the different viewpoints on it, you would need to identify what type of customer you would be working for. People that truck round bales prefer the 4' wide bales, to stay under legal width, and net wrap. Many cattle ranchers who only move bales on their own property want as much in a bale as they can get. 6'x5' bales is the standard for them. I know some that want natural twine, some plastic twine, and many will take nothing but net wrap, because it sheds water better. One custom baler I know runs new JD's. The last one he traded in ,at 2 years old, had over 10,000 bales on the moniter and less than 400 were with twine. That is what his customers want.

Good Luck!!

 

[matt21]

Thanks everyone for the info! I'll let you know what happens.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I like the idea of taking on other people's junk (sorry FWJ). That's my competitive advantage. I learn how it works, how to fix it, and how to improve it. If I have a breakdown, I already have the tools in the field, the extra parts on hand and the knack to get it done. With new equipment, I can only compete with dealers.

Absolutely no reason to be sorry (other than you're stealing my game plan ) I made a carreer out of that very same practice.

In the last 37+ years, I've owned 3 balers. All three were bought used. I still have 2 of them. Both are now near 30 years old. Count what I paid for all 3, subtract the one I sold, and I have 37 years of hayin' and 2 good balers with less than $3000 invested. (w/ either being worth $2000 to $3000 on todays market) If anyone would like, spend the money on a new one, bale for a summer, then I'll match reliability stride for stride with my old "junkers". If you take good care of a baler they'll go on like the Energizer Bunny.

 

[bigbull338]

i know a guy that was running an old massy round baler.an everytime he pulled out of a field from baling in the shop she went.an he had to change bearing an work on it.an sometimes she would blowup baling.this summer she blew a pick reel bearing.so he pulled out of the field.an went an got him a new baler.